Abstract
Men (6092) who underwent vasectomy were observed for 20,491 person yr in a prepaid group practice. The incidences of 1st-time hospitalizations for a variety of diagnoses were examined as a proxy for disease incidence rates and compared to similarly derived rates in the remaining male membership of the practice. Vasectomized men had comparatively high rates of hospitalization for a variety of diseases of the genitourinary system during the early postvasectomy period. Apart from these, there were no important statistically convincing elevations in the new hospitalization rates among vasectomized men as compared to those of the nonvasectomized group.